A Moment in Time
by NarikoD
Summary: A single moment changes Wolfram's and Yuuri's life forever.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello! I know it's been months since my last one-shot and I apologize for not having brought you anything sooner. This idea hit me sometime in the middle of the night when I was on the verge of falling asleep.

This is actually a one-shot but because it spanned to nearly thirty pages and is almost 16,000 words, I decided to split it into two separate chapters. At least here, I can choose where to split it, at my livejournal there is a word limit and I had to figure out the best places to split it without going over the word limit.

Now, sit back, relax, and I hope you enjoy!

Summary: A single moment changes Wolfram's and Yuuri's life forever.

Warnings: Rated PG-13. MPreg.

A Moment in Time

Nothing pleased Wolfram more than waking up in Yuuri's arms every morning, feeling those strong arms wrapped around him tightly. It made him feel loved and cherished, Yuuri protecting him even when they slept. Not that Wolfram needed protecting, of course.

Wolfram snuggled closer, head on one of Yuuri's wide shoulders. He had woken up before the black-haired king, an unusual occurrence. Wolfram loved to sleep, preferred to stay in bed for as long as possible, while Yuuri tended to wake up well before breakfast was served. On the rare moments when the blond did wake up before his husband, he simply waited for Yuuri to wake up, using his chest as a drawing board as Wolfram drew imaginary shapes and lines on the bare skin.

Just as he was doing now. He could hear the birds chirping outside their window and he could faintly hear the sounds of swords clanging together from the men on the training grounds. Wolfram would have to go down there soon, but not yet. He wanted to enjoy this morning for as long as he could.

It was minutes later when Yuuri's breathing slightly changed. His body twitched and Wolfram perched his chin on Yuuri's chest just in time to see those rare dark eyes slowly open. A slumberous smile stretched Yuuri's lips when he caught Wolfram looking at him. Wolfram felt the arms around him tighten just a fraction more.

"Good morning, Your Majesty," Wolfram murmured.

Yuuri arched a brow at the formal greeting. "Good morning, Your Majesty," he retorted.

Laughing, Wolfram maneuvered himself until he was straddling Yuuri's waist. He was nude but his lack of nightwear didn't bother him. At least, not anymore. It had taken him a long while to get used to being naked around his husband. Before they married, they had seen each other naked on a number of occasions, but that had always been when bathing or dressing, and Wolfram had pointedly ignored anything below the waist. Once they had married, however, below the waist was no longer forbidden. Not only had Wolfram turn shy when looking at his husband's nude body, he had grown even shier knowing that Yuuri was looking at him. From the blushes that had adorned Yuuri's cheeks during that time, it had been the same for the dark-haired king.

"I didn't hear you come in last night," Wolfram commented, planting his hands on Yuuri's chest.

Yuuri made a soft noise of acknowledgement. Wolfram shivered slightly when Yuuri's broad hands slowly ran up his thighs. "I didn't want to wake you. It was late by the time I was done with the paperwork." Yuuri sat up and dragged his hands up Wolfram's sides before loosely wrapping his arms around the blond's slim body. "You looked so cute curled up in a ball."

"Well I had to find someway to get warm. You weren't here to keep the cold away." Wolfram put on his best pout, sticking his lower lip out.

"I'm here now," Yuuri murmured, leaning forward to nip at Wolfram's lower lip before giving him a proper kiss.

Wolfram moaned softly and wrapped his arms around Yuuri's neck. "I wish you didn't have to go," Wolfram whispered as Yuuri spread kisses across his jaw and down the hollow of his throat.

"I wish I didn't have to go, either." Yuuri nipped at the blond's soft skin. "Why not come with me?"

Wolfram grimaced and shook his head. Negotiations with Dai Shimeron were in progress, a step closer to solidifying the peaceful alliance Yuuri wanted between the two countries. It was a big accomplishment to even be able to negotiate with the human country after the many years of hostility that has always existed between them. If things went smoothly, then a new treaty would officially halt any future wars from ever occurring between Shin Makoku and Dai Shimeron.

At Wolfram's nonverbal answer, Yuuri frowned. "Why not? I'll miss having you next to me when I fall asleep."

Wolfram hesitated. He has always traveled with Yuuri wherever he went, no matter the destination, especially when the king ventured into hostile territory. It was no surprise to see the confusion in Yuuri's eyes, unable to understand why Wolfram had opted to stay home instead of going with him.

"I have finally realized that I can trust you not to cheat on me," Wolfram playfully answered, leaning in to rub their noses.

Yuuri arched a disbelieving brow. "Ah, glad to know that the last few years of marriage finally proved it to you. Never mind the yearlong courtship, and the constant rebuffs of potential brides, fighting in that one duel when some idiot had the audacity to challenge me over your hand—"

Wolfram chuckled. "You know I trust you, Yuuri." He sighed. "I just don't feel like going this one time."

Nothing escaped Yuuri. His husband eyed him suspiciously. "I don't believe you," he proclaimed. "You're keeping something from me."

"Now what makes you think that?"

"Because I know you. Something's up." Yuuri lightly shook him. "Tell me." A worried look came over his features. "It's not something bad, is it?"

Wolfram played with Yuuri's dark hair. "Don't fret, Yuuri. There's nothing wrong. I simply don't feel like going." That was a lie, of course. He wanted to go, he truly did, but he couldn't. Gisela recommended that he stay in Shin Makoku and away from any human lands. He cupped Yuuri's face and lifted it up so they could stare into each other's eyes. "Once the negotiations are over, you're going to take me somewhere so we could spend quality time together."

Yuuri's brows rose but his lips quirked into a smile. "Is that an order, Your Majesty?"

"It's a decree." Wolfram smiled before leaning forward to peck his husband's lips.

Yuuri growled softly. "I will need a little more than that to get me through the trip without you." Wolfram suddenly found himself on his back, Yuuri hovering over him. "I know you are keeping something from me," Yuuri said, becoming serious once more. "While we're having our quality time together, I expect for you to tell me."

Wolfram didn't respond, merely brought Yuuri's head down to kiss him again. Yuuri returned the kiss but Wolfram knew that Yuuri was allowing the distraction to happen. For now, that was enough.

Yuuri pulled back just a fraction, their lips still touching. "We haven't made love in the morning in a long time." Yuuri pulled further away only to lean to the right and press a kiss against Wolfram's shoulder.

"No, we haven't," Wolfram agreed softly.

Yuuri slowly moved down his body, kissing, nipping, sucking his skin. Wolfram hummed, enjoying the attention. But when the kisses suddenly stopped at his belly with nothing happening for several moments, Wolfram frowned and looked down to see what Yuuri was doing.

The king was staring intently at Wolfram's stomach, brows slightly burrowed together. Wolfram swallowed and felt his heart speed up a little. Did Yuuri feel it? Could he sense it? Gisela had said Yuuri might but she hadn't sounded confident that Yuuri's human blood would allow him to. Wolfram bit his lip. What if Yuuri figured it out?

A knock sounded against the bedroom door.

"Your Majesty?" Gunter's voice filtered through the door. "Are you awake?"

Yuuri sighed, looking more than a little disappointed. "Damn," he muttered. "He always comes get me at precisely the wrong time." Yuuri gave a rueful smile when Wolfram chuckled. In a louder voice, he said, "Yes, Gunter. I'm awake."

"We are set to leave within the hour. I suggest you start getting ready so you can have some breakfast before we set out to leave to Dai Shimeron."

"All right. Thanks." Yuuri sighed again and pressed his forehead against Wolfram's smooth belly. "Do you even remember the last time we had made love?"

Wolfram snorted. "Is that all you think about?"

Yuuri groaned. "When I'm this hard, yes." He gave Wolfram's stomach one last kiss before rolling out of bed. "I can't wait until these negotiations are over."

Wolfram rolled onto his belly and folded his arms on the bed, planting his chin on top of them. He watched his husband gather some clothes to wear for the day, all the while grumbling under his breath. Wolfram chuckled. He was glad to know that after several years of marriage, Yuuri still desired him so much.

Yuuri headed towards the door, presumably to head towards their private baths, but the king paused when he reached the door, looking over his shoulder at Wolfram. "You're not going to take a bath with me?"

Wolfram shook his head. "I took one last night." He rolled his eyes. "Besides, if I take a bath with you now you'd probably attempt to seduce me, and you don't have time for that."

"Not attempt, succeed," Yuuri corrected, completely unashamed by his admission. "But you're right. Gunter would probably come find me and the last thing I want is for him to walk in on us—_again_."

Wolfram was still mortified by that particular event despite it having occurred very early on in their marriage. It had been the first time that Yuuri and Wolfram had decided to make love in the baths and just as Wolfram was about to climax, Gunter had entered the baths looking for Yuuri. Wolfram hadn't been able to look at Gunter in the eye for days after that.

"Hey."

Wolfram was taken out of his thoughts by Yuuri's touch. He hadn't realized that Yuuri had returned to the bed. "What?" Wolfram asked seeing the concerned look on Yuuri's face.

Yuuri frowned a little, softly caressing Wolfram's cheek. "Are you _sure_ that there's nothing wrong?"

Caught off-guard by the unexpected question, Wolfram blinked. "Huh?"

"It's just . . . Whenever you keep secrets from me, it's never a good thing. It's always something bad."

Grabbing Yuuri's hand, Wolfram led the fingertips to his lips and kissed them. "I told you, nothing is wrong." Although he didn't want to admit that he had a secret, he didn't like that worried look in Yuuri's dark eyes. Releasing Yuuri's hand, Wolfram got up on his knees and placed his hands on his husband's shoulders. "I promise you that whatever secret I am keeping from you, it's a good one." At least, Wolfram hoped it was a good one. He mentally shook his head. No negative thoughts allowed. He smiled brightly. "Nothing bad."

Yuuri eyed him for a few moments before nodding once. "Okay." He grabbed a hold of one of Wolfram's hands and kissed his palm. "Miss me while I'm gone, okay?"

"Of course," Wolfram promised.

* * *

The skies darkened and distant thunder announced the coming of a storm. Wolfram frowned and paused mid-stroke, lifting his paintbrush from the canvass as he slowly lost his natural light. He looked out the window, seeing the slow roll of the dark clouds covering the sky and he decided that that was enough painting for the day. It was just as well. With the storm rolling in, he wouldn't be able to concentrate on his painting, not when Yuuri was currently traveling across the ocean and would most likely have to deal with the storm.

Wolfram has experienced rough waters during a thunderstorm, and the nastier the storm, the rougher the waves. Yuuri had left Dai Shimeron yesterday, so if his calculations were correct, the king was midway to the human country. Yuuri had never really had to travel across the oceans during a rough storm and Wolfram wished that he could have gone. If the coming storm was bad, Yuuri was going to endure harsh conditions. Wolfram could just imagine the choppy waters, the high winds, the constant sounds of thunder as the sky was lighted by lighting strikes, the boat rocking to and fro. He was nauseous just thinking about it.

Wolfram knew that if things got too rough Yuuri would be able to handle it. With Yuuri being such a powerful magic-wielder, his husband could do a number of things to protect himself and the others on board if he had to. It didn't ease Wolfram's worries any less, though.

Wolfram went to the basin by the window and quickly washed his hands. Once he removed the paint stains on his skin and dried his hands, he quickly closed the row of windows he had opened earlier. He didn't want any raindrops falling inside his studio and falling on his numerous paintings that were perched up against the walls.

As soon as he closed all the windows, he left his studio and made his way down the corridors, nodding a greeting to those who bowed their heads in respect. It hadn't been much of a transition from being a Lord to a King-Consort. He had been born a prince and when his mother stepped down from the throne, he had been demoted to a noble, but he had still been very much a part of the royal court. The Bielefeld name was well known in Shin Makoku and even if some citizens hadn't known his first name, they had at least known he was part of the Bielefeld house. When he married the king, his first name soon became known to all citizens of the country.

However, being King-Consort didn't mean living a life of luxury as he was sure many of the citizens thought he had. No, marrying Yuuri meant sharing the power and the responsibilities, on top of the responsibilities Wolfram already had. Wolfram still trained his men, was still involved in Bielefeld affairs, but he also had input in any decisions made that would affect Shin Makoku.

Just as Wolfram passed by the king's office, the door suddenly swung open, startling him just a bit from the action. Gwendal stepped out and his gaze zeroed in on him. Damn, Wolfram had hoped to somehow avoid Gwendal while Yuuri was gone. If anyone could make him talk, it was his eldest brother, and Gwendal has long since suspected that Wolfram was keeping something from everyone.

Before Wolfram could do or say anything, Gwendal said, "There are some documents that you can sign. I've already approved them. All they need are your signature."

Wolfram hesitated. "Now?"

Gwendal's eyes narrowed. "Now."

Dragging his feet, he entered the office. Gwendal shut the door behind him, the sound loud in Wolfram's ears. He was stuck. He knew what was coming, but he could pretend that he was really there to sign documents. The thunder, now closer, momentarily distracted him. "Do you think Yuuri will be okay?" he couldn't help but ask. He turned to Gwendal.

Gwendal eyed the dark clouds through the large window in the office. "His Majesty has traveled through a storm before."

"But not a bad one, and this sounds like a really bad one." Wolfram's boots sank deep into the thick carpet as he made his way to the large oak desk. He sat down on the chair, detecting the faint scent that solely belonged to Yuuri. He missed him already. "And I was always there with him. This time I'm here and if something happens to him I won't know about it."

Right after he said the words, he wished he hadn't said anything at all. He should have just come in, sign the papers, and leave. He shouldn't have even sat down. To make matters worse, he had just given an opening for Gwendal to start the inquisition.

And as expected, Gwendal took it. "Which brings up the question, why didn't you go with him?"

Wolfram picked up a quill and looked over the first document on top of a tiny pile of papers. It was a neat way to avoid Gwendal's suspicious gaze. "I did not feel like dealing with sea sickness."

"That's never stopped you before."

"Yes, well, it's a good thing I didn't go, considering the storm."

"Like I said, that has never stopped you before."

For several minutes, Wolfram resolutely kept his head bowed as no words were spoken between them, but Gwendal was an impatient man when he wanted answers.

"Wolfram."

It was a command, the tone of the voice that Gwendal has often used when he wanted Wolfram to look at him. He resisted for just a moment but eventually raised his eyes. He found his brother looking at him with slightly narrowed eyes. "I've been watching you, Wolfram. I've noticed that you switched your paints. You no longer use the paints with the bearbee extract." Wolfram opened his mouth to respond but Gwendal continued talking. "You stopped drinking anything with alcohol. When you go to the training grounds to train your soldiers, you no longer challenge anyone to clash swords with you. Instead, you have the soldiers fight each other as you watch on the sidelines. You've begun to eat fish, which is perhaps your least favorite foods in all the land."

Gwendal stopped and stared Wolfram down. "What is going on?"

Wolfram thought about lying. He thought about saying that nothing was going on and that his brother was looking into things far more deeply than he should. There were a million things he could do or say to get out of this interrogation. But in the end, he knew how Gwendal was. The older demon was not going to let Wolfram get away without a complete explanation and if Wolfram was truly honest with himself, he really wanted to share the news with someone.

He put the quill down and gave Gwendal a small smile. "I'm pregnant."

Gwendal wasn't the kind of man to reveal his emotions so it didn't surprise Wolfram when the facial expression didn't change. However, Wolfram has long since learned to read his brother's reactions a different way. The way his brother's body stilled showed his surprise.

"Come again?" Gwendal asked blandly.

Wolfram's smile widened. Gwendal was _very_ surprised. "A couple of weeks ago, I was getting tired very easily. My magic was suddenly unstable. Certain foods also began to make me nauseas and I began to crave foods that I usually hate. I went to Gisela to see what was going on. After she examined me, she said that I was with child. I'm a couple of months along. That's why I couldn't go with Yuuri. Since I get weak on human lands, it might affect the baby."

Gwendal acknowledged his words with a single nod. He stood there for several moments, staring at the surface of the king's desk. Wolfram slowly lost his smile, unsure what this long silence meant. He hadn't expected hugs and kisses, but neither had he expected silence. Wolfram stood up and circled the table, slowly approaching his big brother. "Big Brother? Are you . . . upset?"

Gwendal slanted a look at him. "What makes you think that?"

"Because you haven't said anything."

"I'm just curious. Why haven't you or His Majesty said anything?"

Wolfram fiddled with his fingers. "Because I haven't told Yuuri yet."

Gwendal turned fully to face his younger brother, eyebrows arched high on his forehead. "You haven't told him yet? You've known for weeks."

"I know!" He took a deep breath. "I know how Yuuri is. He can get a bit overprotective. At first, I was waiting for the right moment to tell him but then Dai Shimeron sent that letter and they began to negotiate and I didn't want to distract him. Then he was invited over there so that they can negotiate face-to-face and I know how important this treaty is to Yuuri. If I told him that I'm pregnant, he would have wanted to stay here."

"As he should," Gwendal murmured.

Wolfram rolled his eyes. "But what is he going to do? Watch me as I grow fatter? If he stayed here, he might have lost this chance to work things out with Dai Shimeron. I have you and the castle staff to help with anything I need. Gisela had even told me that she was going to watch me closely." He looked down at the shiny tips of his boots. "I'll tell him when the negotiations are over."

"You do realize he will be gone for nearly a month? By the time he returns, you won't even have to tell him you are pregnant. He'll know by your waistline."

"I'll still be skinny." At least, he hoped he would be. He frowned. When will he begin to show? He'll ask Gisela. "I'll hide it if I start to show by the time he comes home."

Gwendal studied him for a moment. "How do you think he'll take it?"

"I don't know." He bit his lip. "I'm worried that he'll panic."

"Over what?"

"Over a lot of things! He might panic because it's a man and not a woman who is going to give birth. Or he might panic because he's not ready for a baby. He might not even want it! I mean, there is so much going on. Even if the peace treaty with Dai Shimeron goes through there is still a lot of countries out there he has to negotiate with, plus all the stuff that's going on within Shin Makoku—"

"He loves you, Wolfram." Wolfram stopped talking and looked at his brother with anxious eyes. Gwendal cocked his head slightly, continued to study him for several more moments, and then moved closer. He put a hand on one of Wolfram's shoulders. "It does not matter what is going on with Shin Makoku or Dai Shimeron or any other country. He loves you more than anything and he will love the baby." Gwendal paused. "In all honesty I don't believe either one of you is ready for a baby right now."

"I don't think I'm ready, either," Wolfram muttered. "But I'll become ready by the time the baby gets here—"

"And so will your husband. And he will most certainly want the baby. Not only because it's his child that you are carrying, but because it's _your_ child, too. He will love it just as much as he loves you."

Wolfram took in Gwendal's words and eventually nodded. "You're right." He smiled slightly. "I'll tell him as soon as he comes back and then maybe we can have a dinner celebration." His smile widened as he teasingly asked, "And if Yuuri doesn't want the baby, you'll teach him a lesson, won't you?"

"Of course," Gwendal promised. His lips finally turned into a smile. "Congratulations on your pregnancy."

Wolfram's small smile turned into a wide grin and he pushed himself away from the desk to hug Gwendal tightly, happy when his hug was slowly returned. Rarely did Gwendal hug anyone but when he did, it was a special thing to be a part of. "Thank you, Big Brother."

* * *

There were many things Yuuri has come to learn and accept about this world: People with magic, a population of dragons, animals that were a cross between bees and bears, flying sheep, and so much more. Yes, there were many things Yuuri has come to accept.

What he had trouble accepting, however, was the possibility of male demons becoming pregnant.

Yuuri was not sure why Wolfram thought that a book on demon anatomy would be a pleasant book to read on this trip to Dai Shimeron, but it certainly was interesting. He hasn't been able to put it down since he first start reading it last week. He now knew the reason why demons were able to carry magic—a gene that human and most half-humans didn't inherit—and how the differences in blood type indicated which demons would carry which elemental magic.

Those little tidbits of information were interesting, but not shocking. Demon male pregnancy, however, was another thing entirely. There was an entire chapter devoted to it and Yuuri read every word, taking everything in. At first, his logic told him to reject it. Male seahorses gave birth, not male humans. But as he continued to read the chapter, one word was constantly repeated: demon. Demons were not humans. They _looked_ human, but they weren't. According to this book, they were a lot more different from humans than Yuuri had originally thought. When and if a male demon became pregnant, his body automatically began to change in order to accommodate the growing fetus and to prepare the body for birth. It made sense in a way.

It was still weird, though.

Yuuri sighed and rolled over on the bed in his guest bedroom. The room was small when compared to his own bedroom back at Blood Pledge Castle, but no less fancy. Velvet curtains on the windows, large canopied bed, white walls with gorgeous paintings hanging at strategic places, a fireplace that was currently occupied by a roaring fire. Yet it could have been a tiny, bare room for all he cared. The bed, as comfortable as it was, was lonely without Wolfram lying there next to him. Yuuri has gotten into the habit of using one of the pillows to hug at night, a poor substitute for his husband.

Using his left hand, he patted around the bed until his fingers touched the folded letter he had received. He has read it a dozen times, but it eased the homesickness he felt whenever his eyes looked over the neat, cursive writing that belonged to Wolfram. Nothing much was going on in Shin Makoku, except that Wolfram was apparently being kept hostage in his office to sign documents while Gwendal hovered his shoulder. Yuuri chuckled, imagining the scene all too clearly. He's been in that position himself quite a number of times. It didn't matter that Yuuri was king and could probably strip Gwendal of his power and title, Gwendal was still a force to be reckoned with and neither Yuuri nor Wolfram were willing to go against that force if they didn't have to.

He truly missed his other half, but the way the negotiations were going made him feel a little better about Wolfram's absence. Things were going remarkably well. There were some heated disagreements, of course, but with both parties willing to compromise, Yuuri was sure that by the time he returned home, a new treaty would be in place that would be satisfactory to all. Hopefully, that would end all hostility between Shin Makoku and Dai Shimeron.

He rolled over onto his stomach, face hovering once more above the anatomy book. He flipped the page and glanced over it. It was a section of symptoms that male demons usually possess when pregnant. The symptoms varied among demons, and not all of the symptoms were the exact same as it was for females, whether human or demon. Male demons did experience some nausea but it never got to the point where they had to throw up. They didn't gain weight like women do, and instead of their hormones being affected, it was their magic that became unbalanced. It was highly recommended that they stay away from human lands where their magic was severely limited, since a high number of esoteric stones might hurt the fetus. Then there were the symptoms that Yuuri would usually associate with pregnancy, such as the exhaustion, the belly growing, and the cravings. Just like pregnant women, male demons sometimes began to crave food they usually hate when pregnant.

On the next page, a particular sentence caught his attention. "Fathers of the baby can usually sense the baby's presence within the womb whenever they near the demon they have impregnated," he read aloud.

Yuuri frowned. Something tickled his mind. He returned to the symptoms and instead of scanning the passages, he carefully noted each word. He continued reading until he finished the entire chapter, then he flipped back to the page where that sentence had caught his eye. He read it numerous times, the same sentence over and over, telling him that fathers can usually sense the baby within the womb. The tickle persisted, telling him that the sentence was important.

He pushed himself up, curling his legs underneath him and planting his bottom on top of his bare feet. His frown deepened. What was it about that sentence that bothered him? As he smoothed his silk pajamas down with his hand, he stilled his hand over his stomach. Yuuri knew for a fact that he wasn't pregnant because only a full-blooded male demon could become pregnant. Like Wolfram.

"Wolfram . . ." he breathed, and his mind immediately turned to that morning the day he had left Shin Makoku, when he had been kissing down Wolfram's body. He had paused when he reached Wolfram's stomach because he had sensed something there, something tugging at his magic.

"No way," he muttered. He shook his head, unable to believe that Wolfram could possibly be . . .

His eyes strayed back to the symptoms and without putting too much thought into it, he jumped out of bed and strode to the door. He opened it and peeked out into the hallway. As expected, Conrart stood by the door, ever cautious of his godson's safety whenever they left Blood Pledge Castle.

"Is something wrong, Your Majesty?" Conrart asked when he saw Yuuri's head poke out.

"No." Yuuri paused. "Yes." He grimaced. "Maybe, I don't know. But I have questions." He waved his hand, indicating Conrart to enter his room. Yuuri was glad that Gunter was asleep in his own guest bedroom because right now the only person he wanted to talk to was his godfather.

As soon as Conrart was inside, Yuuri closed the door and went right into things. "Wolfram has been keeping something from me," Yuuri flatly stated. "I didn't know what it was but he assured me that by the time I return he'll tell me."

"Okay," Conrart said slowly. It was obvious the half-human had no idea what to make of Yuuri's words, so he simply waited for Yuuri to continue.

"Have you noticed Wolfram eating seafood?" he asked. "He hates it and I've never seen him touch any fish but I've missed a few meals since I've begun the negotiations in Shin Makoku so I can't be too sure."

Conrart cocked his head and although he still looked a bit confused, Yuuri could tell that he was looking back over the days before Yuuri's departure. Seconds later, he nodded. "Now that you ask, yes, I did see him eat a couple of meals that had fish in it, but the fish was minimal."

"Minimal or not, Wolfram hates fish." Yuuri put clenched fists on his hips, frowning at Conrart. "Did you know that pregnant male demons are told to stay away from human lands?"

Looking very much taken aback by the question, Conrart struggled with a response. "Pregnant male demons?" he finally repeated for lack of anything better to say.

Yuuri marched his way to the bed and picked up the book. He handed it to Conrart, making sure the book was open to the pregnancy chapter. "Wolfram snuck this in my suitcase. I didn't know why but now . . ."

Conrart looked over the chapter curiously, and Yuuri wondered if maybe his godfather had been as unaware of male demon pregnancies as Yuuri had been. "Did you know about it?" he asked, tapping the top of the pages with the tip of his fingers.

A single nod was his answer. "But it is a rare phenomenon. One in every one-hundred thousand male demons has the gene that enables them to get pregnant."

Yuuri nodded grimly. "I know, I read the whole chapter." According to the statistics, less than half of those pregnancies were successfully carried to full-term, and of those full-term pregnancies, only a fraction resulted in a live baby.

"Why wasn't I told about this?" Yuuri demanded.

Conrart lifted his eyes, taking in the agitated state his godson was in. "While same-sex marriages occur, it is rare. In fact, you are the first king to marry another man. Since there aren't many men who marry within their own sex, the chances of finding a male demon with the pregnancy gene are very small. It seemed particularly unimportant for you and Wolfram because you are half-human and any children conceived in both the Spitzweg and Bielefeld family lines were through heterosexual marriages."

That made sense. The pregnancy gene was genetic. All it took was one child to be born by a male demon and all full-blooded male demon descendants of that baby inherited the gene. Any daughters that were born by a male pregnancy became carriers and passed the gene along.

That should have reassured him that it was unlikely that Wolfram was keeping that kind of a secret from him, but again his mind turned to that one tiny moment when he had kissed Wolfram's stomach and something inside of him tingled, an unknown, unexplained connection.

"Wolfram always comes with me on these trips," Yuuri muttered. He began to pace. "And I knew there was something going on, that's why I confronted him. But he wouldn't tell me, tried to deny that he even had a secret. But the book says to stay away from human lands and that is exactly what Wolfram is doing." He began to do hand gestures as he worked his way through all the clues. "Wolfram hates fish but now he's eating it. I've noticed that he also gets so tired doing things that usually doesn't tire him out." He pointed at Conrart. "He sleeps more, too! I mean, he loves to sleep, don't get me wrong, but he goes to bed earlier and he sleeps in later in the mornings more than usual. No one else seems to have noticed, but I certainly did."

"Your Majesty," Conrart said, getting Yuuri's attention. He now looked concerned as well as confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't you get it?" Yuuri threw his hands up in the air, his mind racing. "There may have been heterosexual marriages in Wolfram's ancestry, but one of those husbands must have had an affair with another guy and gotten pregnant because Wolfram is pregnant!"

There was silence in the room after that proclamation. Now that the words had been said, Yuuri clutched at his chest. "Wolfram is pregnant," he repeated, this time in a softer voice. His husband was pregnant. His blond, feisty husband was sitting back at home with a child growing inside of him. Yuuri's child.

"I need to sit down," Yuuri muttered. "I _really_ need to sit down." He stumbled to the bed and lowered himself on it, head in his hands.

"Are you sure, Your Majesty?" Yuuri could hear the skepticism in Conrart's voice. "Perhaps there is another explanation for how Wolfram has been acting lately."

Yuuri shook his head. "He's pregnant, Conrad. I'm sure of it." Boy, was he sure of it. This was Wolfram's secret, and if he didn't love that blond idiot so much, he would have killed him for keeping such a thing from him. Though it didn't take much for him to figure out why Wolfram kept it from him. "He knew I wouldn't have come here. He knew that if he told me he's pregnant then I would have delayed these negotiations, or sent someone else in my place, so I can stay home with him." Which probably would have shot any chance of a peace treaty to hell. Dai Shimeron's king had made it perfectly clear in his letters that he would only negotiate with Yuuri and that this would be the only time he would be willing to reach a compromise with Shin Makoku.

"Your Majesty, perhaps you are jumping to conclusions. After all, you've been reading this book—"

"Which Wolfram put inside my suitcase." Yuuri suddenly jumped off the bed. "You know what? Let's wake up Gunter."

Conrart looked taken aback by the sudden words. "Gunter? Why?"

"Because he's a lot older than you and he probably knows more about Wolfram's family history than either of us, since the House of Christ has associated with the House of Bielefeld and the House of Spitzweg since Shinou's time." He grabbed Conrart's arm and began pulling him towards the door. "He might know about Wolfram's ancestry and can tell us which husband got pregnant."

"This could wait until morning—"

"No, it cannot!" He turned to Conrart with a determined look. "If you haven't noticed, Conrad, I am currently freaking out about all this because I know for a fact that Wolfram is pregnant and your skepticism is really not helping me, so I'm going to prove to you that I'm right. That way, once you know I'm right, you can help me _not_ freak out."

Conrart studied him for a moment before sighing in what sounded like defeat. "All right, Your Majesty. As you wish."

"Good. Let's go." Yuuri led the way out the door. Even if Gunter couldn't help prove his conclusion correct, Yuuri knew deep down that his husband was carrying his child. As soon as his godfather understood that the better because Yuuri seriously needed someone to help him calm down.

Preferably, _before_ he fainted.

* * *

With a critical eye, Wolfram examined his men's offensive and defensive techniques. His unit held a total of forty men and for today's exercise, he had divided them up into pairs. Twenty used defensive techniques to avoid the thrusts of their sparring partner's sword and the other twenty practiced their offensive. He walked down the rows of fighting men, hands clasped behind his back.

"Careful, Gerard," Wolfram said, pausing by one of the pairs. They stopped fighting at his words and Wolfram stepped in between them. "You're leaving yourself wide open for an attack." He took his own sword out of his sheath and put his body into a stance. "You're doing a great job blocking your upper half but you're leaving your legs unprotected." He angled his sword, putting the steel in front of his leg. "When they aim below, angle your sword like this. It will block the attack."

Wolfram removed himself from the middle and allowed them to resume their sparring. Wolfram watched them for a moment and nodded with satisfaction once he saw Gerard doing as told.

The hairs in the back of his neck told him he was being watched. He twisted his upper body around, traveled his gaze up the castle walls, and scanned the windows until he found the one with a silhouette behind it

Gwendal.

Wolfram sighed irritably. He hadn't realized just how overprotective Gwendal would become once he knew of the pregnancy. It seemed that no matter where Wolfram was on the castle grounds, his brother was watching him from somewhere close by, like a lioness keeping watch over her cub. It was worse when he did leave the royal grounds, because Gwendal always sent some of his men to join Wolfram's personal guards whenever the blond decided to venture out into the capital. His guards, of course, couldn't understand why the Commander of the Demon Army was suddenly sending several men to join them on Wolfram's travels. Despite Wolfram's various attempts to get rid of the extra baby-sitters, his brother refused to back down.

Gwendal moved closer to the window and even across the distance, Wolfram could see the disapproval in his eyes. If it were up to the earth demon, Wolfram would be resting in bed all day, being waited on hand and foot. That might be paradise for some but certainly not for Wolfram. He couldn't be cooped up all day in his bedroom nor could he stand having every single thing done for him. No doubt, Gwendal's current problem was not just that Wolfram was outside, but that he was right smack in the middle of several men who were using their swords in close vicinity to Wolfram. Accidents happened, the blond didn't deny that, but all the men in his unit were well-trained soldiers. The chances of any of them letting their swords slip and wounding Wolfram were practically nonexistent.

So to irritate his brother, Wolfram promptly turned his back to him and continued walking down the training grounds.

An hour later, training was over and Wolfram wiped an arm across his brow. The sun was broiling, a stark contrast to the last two weeks when quite a few thunderstorms had unleashed severe rainfall. The sun had returned vigorously just the day before, and it didn't show any signs of letting up.

Thirsty, Wolfram was about to head towards his water bottle that he had sat nearby, but as he turned, his brother was already there, bottle in hand.

Wolfram sighed. "You really need to stop flocking around me like this," he muttered. "People are already suspicious."

"I will not apologize for having your best interests at heart," Gwendal replied in a dignified manner. He inched the bottle closer. "Drink. You've been standing under the sun for hours."

Wolfram took it without complaint. Not only was he hot and thirsty, he was exhausted as well. His pregnancy seemed to sap so much energy from him that even the simplest things wore him out.

"You're done for the day," Gwendal decided.

Wolfram scowled at him. He opened his mouth, automatically wanting to fight Gwendal's high-handedness, but he found himself too tired to argue. What he really wanted to do was take a long bath and then take an even longer nap. So he closed his mouth and nodded.

Gwendal walked him back to the castle. The interior was cool when compared to the heat outside and he sighed in relief. "I'll be taking a bath and then a nap."

A hand stalled his steps. "A letter arrived for you."

Wolfram instantly perked up. "From Yuuri?" At Gwendal's nod, Wolfram headed toward Yuuri's office. The letter was waiting for him right on the desk and he wasted no time opening it.

He read the first few sentences and smiled. "The negotiations are done," he announced with glee as Gwendal entered the office. "Yuuri managed to reach a compromise with Dai Shimeron. There are a few things to smooth out before they write the treaty down, but Yuuri says he's coming home next week." He couldn't help but do a small happy dance right where he stood. As happy as he was for the negotiations having reached a satisfying conclusion, he was happier about Yuuri coming home soon. He has missed his husband terribly.

He calmed himself down and finished the letter, but his smile vanished when he read the tiny message Yuuri had added after his name.

"Wolfram?"

Wolfram reread the last few words, wanting to make sure he was seeing things right. "'P.S. I know your secret," Wolfram read out loud. "'You have a lot of explaining to do.'" He looked at Gwendal with wide, shocked eyes. "He knows I'm pregnant?"

Gwendal took the letter and read the entire thing. "He doesn't hint at it." He folded the letter. "Perhaps he doesn't know you are pregnant. It could be something else. Besides, he is unaware that male demons can get pregnant."

"Well, not necessarily." Wolfram took the letter back, nervously tapping a forefinger against the material. "When he was bathing, I snuck in a demon anatomy book into his baggage. There is a chapter that describes in detail how, when, and why some male demons can get pregnant." At Gwendal's questioning gaze, Wolfram shrugged. "I wanted him to get used to the idea. You know how Yuuri is. Every time he encounters something that seems impossible to be real, it takes him a while to fully accept it."

He reopened the letter and reread it. Like Gwendal said, there were no hints whatsoever that Yuuri even knew that he was going to be a father, but what if Yuuri really did know he was pregnant? If so, how could he have possibly figured it out so fast? Wolfram had done all he could to hide it and he had thought he had done a fairly good job of it. But he obviously hadn't, considering that both Gwendal and Yuuri had realized that Wolfram had been keeping something from them.

He couldn't help the pout that formed on his lips. "This isn't fair. I wanted to tell him! I had it all planned out."

"Let's wait until we are absolutely sure that he knows. Knowing His Majesty, he could have jumped to an entirely different conclusion."

Wolfram thought that over. He hoped that was the case. Timing had been everything in his plans to reveal his pregnancy to his husband. Private lunch, walk in the gardens, then Wolfram would gently take Yuuri's hand and place it on his stomach. Only then would he reveal his secret. Corny, cliché, but that's how Wolfram wanted it to be.

If Yuuri had managed to figure it out all on his own, Wolfram was going to throttle him for ruining his plans.

Just as he was about to reveal the possibility of becoming a widower sooner than expected, a sharp pain in his abdomen made him gasp and wince. He placed a hand on his belly, surprised by pain. Then it came again and this time he clutched at his stomach with both hands, dropping the letter and hunching over.

Gwendal called out his name. Wolfram could barely hear the concern in his voice as the pains grew so severe he couldn't stand up anymore. Only Gwendal's arms quickly coming around kept him from falling. "Something's wrong," he gasped.

"I'm taking you to Gisela."

He was hauled up in Gwendal's arms as his brother began to take him to the hospital wing.

_Please be okay, baby_, Wolfram thought frantically as he clutched his stomach. _Please be okay, baby, please be okay._


	2. Chapter 2

The voyage back home couldn't go fast enough. Crossing the ocean seemed to take an eternity and the horse ride across the lands was hampered by bandits, a sudden tumble off a horse, a burning house, and a mudslide. By the time Blood Pledge Castle came into view, Yuuri was distraught and pissed off at the world for making his trip back home take far longer than usual.

Gunter and Conrart had tried their best to calm Yuuri down, but they had failed miserably. They shouldn't feel too bad about their failure, though, because Yuuri was sure that if anybody else had tried, they would have failed just as bad. The letter Yuuri had received from Gwendal that said that something had happened to Wolfram worried him. No details had been given, only instructions that told him to come home. Yuuri knew that whatever it was that had happened to Wolfram had been bad because only something horrible would have Gwendal ordering Yuuri back home despite the importance of cementing a treaty between Shin Makoku and Dai Shimeron.

Gwendal was waiting on the steps by the time Yuuri's horse had reached the castle. He jumped off his horse and bypassed a proper greeting to get answers from his brother-in-law.

"What happened?" he demanded.

Gwendal's face was blank, revealing nothing. "You said you figured out Wolfram's secret. What did you think it was?"

Yuuri stared at the question. "What?"

"Tell me. It's important."

He didn't understand why the question was so important. "Gwendal, is Wolfram okay?"

"Yuuri. Please."

Now Yuuri was scared. Rarely did Gwendal refer to Yuuri by his name. The older demon was just like Conrart in that aspect, calling him by name only when they were too worried or too angry to even think of formal titles. "Pregnant. Wolfram is pregnant."

Gwendal closed his eyes briefly. "Wolfram hadn't wanted you to know just yet."

"What does this have to do with anything?" he demanded. "Do not tell me that you ordered me to come back just for that, because if you did—"

"He lost the baby."

Yuuri blinked, tongue forestalled from spilling the rest of what he had been going to say. Had he heard right? "What?" he managed to ask.

There was a twinge of regret in Gwendal's eyes. "He was feeling some abdominal pains last week. A few days later, Gisela said that he had miscarried."

"He lost the baby," Yuuri echoed. He took a step back, putting a hand over his chest. He tried to wrap his head around that but he couldn't. It just seemed impossible that this could have happened to them, to Wolfram.

"Wolfram," he whispered. He looked at Gwendal. "Where's Wolfram?" He heard the hollowness in his own voice and didn't care.

"In your bedroom with Gisela."

He nodded. "I need to be with him right now."

"Wolfram will not want to talk about it."

"I don't care. I just . . . I just need to see him."

Without another word, Yuuri bypassed Gwendal and made his way inside his home. He headed towards their bedroom with no followers, something he was grateful for because he was in no mood to be shadowed by Gwendal, Gunter, or even Conrart. His main concern was Wolfram and nobody was going to stall him from going to his husband. When he reached the door of his room, he opened it slowly and spied Gisela sitting on a chair next to the bed as she murmured too softly for Yuuri to understand her words. Wolfram lay in bed under the covers on his side, back to the door.

Gisela paused and looked up, smiling softly at Yuuri's presence. She stood up and headed towards him. When she was close enough, she whispered, "Can I talk to you before you see him, please?"

Yuuri hesitated. But when Gisela added another 'please,' he said, "All right."

Gisela walked out into the hallway and Yuuri took one more glance into the room before he joined her, closing the door. "Is he okay?" was his first question. "Health-wise, I mean."

She nodded. "Yes. There was a lot of blood but I was able to heal him. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to save the baby."

Yuuri ran his hands down his face. "No trauma to his body?"

"Not that I could tell. I've explained to him that he needs to rest for a couple of days and eat before he could do anything strenuous." She sighed sadly. "But while he has been resting, eating is another matter. I was trying to convince him to eat something before you came but he didn't respond. All he does is lie in bed. He barely talks."

Yuuri clenched and unclenched his fists. "Why did this happen?"

"There is no real explanation." Gisela shook her head. "Sometimes there's never a reason. It just happens." She glanced at the closed door, no doubt thinking of the blond on the other side. "His Majesty needs to eat. He's losing too much weight."

He acknowledged the words with a single nod. "I'll see if I can get him to eat something."

Gisela nodded. "Welcome home, Your Majesty." She glanced at the door again. "I just wished you had arrived home under different circumstances."

"Me, too," he murmured as Gisela walked away. He turned towards the door but took a moment to compose himself. He wasn't sure what he was going to do or say, but what he did know was that Yuuri needed to be with Wolfram.

He entered his bedroom and shut the door behind him. "Wolfram?" he questioned softly as he walked towards the bed.

Wolfram didn't respond. He stood uncertainly by the bed before walking around it. He crouched down so he could look at Wolfram's face and the blank look broke Yuuri's heart.

They stared at each other for several moments before Yuuri whispered, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Wolfram lowered his gaze. "I wanted the moment to be perfect," he whispered back.

"I could have been here for you."

His husband simply shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it."

Yuuri was at a loss of what to do or say. Eventually, he crawled on top of the bed and drew Wolfram into his arms, perching his chin on top of the blond's head. Wolfram didn't lean into his touch but neither did he pull away. Yuuri wondered where they would go from here.

* * *

As days passed, Wolfram remained resolute to not talk about the miscarriage. Yuuri has tried many times to open up a discussion about it but his attempts were shut down. He could tell that the blond was slowly withdrawing into depression and it frightened him to see Wolfram lying in bed all day, barely eating, barely moving. He wanted to make things better for Wolfram but he didn't know how, especially when he didn't seem receptive to Yuuri's attempts at comforting him.

Yuuri was out on the terrace leaning over the balcony, the vast scenery of the castle gardens before him, but he couldn't concentrate on the beauty the scenery offered him. In fact, he hasn't been able to concentrate much on anything. All he kept thinking about was the baby he will never get to meet, and the husband who didn't seem to want him around. The blond had told him to go away after Yuuri yet again tried to talk to him about the loss of their baby, and rather than push the issue Yuuri had followed his husband's wishes.

But it wasn't easy staying away. His instincts were screaming at him to go to Wolfram, to take care of him, to hold him and kiss him and make all the bad things go away, but he couldn't do it. Yuuri felt so damn helpless, more helpless than he's ever felt in his life.

What could he do to make this better?

"Your Majesty?"

Yuuri didn't move at the sound of Conrart's voice. He could hear the worry and if he turned around, he knew he'd see the worry on his godfather's face, too. But he stayed put. "He kicked me out of the room," he said. He didn't have to say who the 'he' in question was.

Conrart approached until he was leaning against the balcony next to Yuuri. "He still hasn't talked about the miscarriage?"

"As far as he is concerned, he was never pregnant. He pretends that the baby never existed. Whenever I do manage to get him to talk to me, he avoids the subject altogether. He won't even mention the word 'baby.'"

"Perhaps he needs time."

"And I want to give it to him, but he can't just avoid the subject. He can't pretend that we didn't conceive a baby."

"Wolfram is rather good at that, isn't he?" When Yuuri shot him a confused glance, Conrart elaborated. "Pretending. He likes to hide away from the truth when it's possible. It's why he doesn't talk about his birth father. As far as he is concerned, our mother conceived him all on her own. It's better than accepting the fact that his father simply didn't want him."

That was true. Yuuri had only approached the subject once, but Wolfram's answer had been a simple "I don't have a father" and that was the end of that.

Yuuri sighed and rubbed at one of his temples. "I can't stand to see him looking so . . . so broken."

"He isn't the only one who looks broken."

Again, no names were needed. Yuuri knew whom Conrart was referring to. "The day I left to Dai Shimeron, I felt the baby." Yuuri turned to look his godfather. "I _felt_ it. I didn't know it at the time but when I touched Wolfram's stomach, there was something that tugged at me. That's why I was so sure that he was pregnant when I talked to you about it." He looked back out into the gardens, eyes roving over the flowers that were just beginning to bloom. It was such a beautiful day. The sun was out, the skies were clear. A colorful butterfly fluttered by him.

The darkness within him didn't let him enjoy such beauty.

His eyes suddenly blurred. "This is not fair," he muttered. He buried his face in his hands and tried to control himself, but how could he when he felt so miserable, so hollow, so damn mad that his baby died before it had a chance to be born?

Yuuri didn't make a sound as his tears escaped the edges of his eyes, slipping down his cheeks and hitting the rail of the balcony. A hand was placed on his shoulder and Yuuri accepted that small token of comfort, grateful that his godfather didn't try to pacify him or try to make him feel better about the situation. For a few minutes, he just wanted to grieve for his unborn child.

When he managed to pull himself together, he sniffed and placed his hands on the railing, his eyes still wet and a few tears still falling, but he was better composed.

"Your Majesty, I cannot say just how sorry I am for your loss."

"I know," Yuuri croaked. He cleared his throat and used his palms to wipe his eyes. "You don't have to say anything, Conrad." He turned to his godfather and gave him a small albeit shaky smile. "I just needed to cry a little."

There was understanding in Conrart's eyes. "Gwendal is coming to grips with the situation himself."

Yuuri nodded. He had been told that Gwendal hadn't left Wolfram's side throughout the whole ordeal, from the moment Wolfram began feeling the pains to the moment Wolfram had learned that he lost the baby.

Conrart added, "Gwendal is grieving in his own way. His collection of stuffed animals has doubled over the past few days." Conrart looked out towards the castle gardens. A light breeze slightly ruffled his brown hair. "During our trip to Dai Shimeron, Gwendal had made a few stuffed animals to give to Wolfram for the baby. He still wants to give them to Wolfram but . . ."

"But it'll just remind Wolfram that he doesn't have a baby to give those stuffed animals to." Yuuri sighed and looked up towards the castle windows, seeking out his bedroom window. The curtains were opened but he doubted Wolfram has even left the bed to get close enough to it. Wolfram usually hated being cooped up for long periods of time. Yuuri could remember the few times Wolfram became sick and always complained about staying in bed all day for a "tiny little fever." Yuuri couldn't say for certain, but he didn't think that a fever that went up to one-hundred and five degrees was tiny, even for a fire-wielding demon.

"You know how I panicked?" Yuuri said. Conrart made a tiny noise of acknowledgement. "I know you and Gunter thought that I was panicking over the fact that Wolfram was a man who was going to give birth in a few months, but that wasn't it. I panicked because I was going to be a father. There was going to be this tiny, little life that I would have to take care of. Every decision I made would somehow affect that little life. It was just so scary, the idea that someone was going to depend on me for everything." He took a deep breath, remembering the fear, the knot of anxiety that he couldn't shake. "When we decided to take a trip into Dai Shimeron's cities, we passed by a couple. The woman was carrying a newborn baby." He smiled briefly, remembering the scene. "They looked so happy, so proud to be parents. I imagined me and Wolfram being like that, and suddenly the panic went away." He looked at Conrart miserably. "I was so excited at the fact that I was going to be a father. I wanted that baby, Conrad. I wanted it."

Conrart nodded. "I know, Your Majesty."

Yuuri wiped away the rest of his tears. "What makes it worse is how Wolfram is pushing me away. I mean, I know this is hard on him, but I just wish that he talked to me. Vent in some way. Yell, cry, hit me, I don't care how, so long as he does something besides sit in bed and stare at the wall." He brought up an image of Wolfram, looking at the world through blank eyes and not making any effort to take care of himself. "He looks so fragile, and I feel like if I don't do something soon, I'm going to lose him." He clenched his hand, clutched it to his chest, right over where his heart beat. "I already lost my baby. I'm not losing my husband, too."

And just like that, he knew what he had to do. It was such a gamble, such a risk, but he knew that if he didn't do something, Wolfram would just continue to withdraw until there was nothing left but an empty shell. Wolfram was so full of life, an inner fire inside of him that made him shine as bright as any star in the sky. Even when Yuuri had denied the possibility of them ever getting married, that inner fire had drawn him towards the blond.

Yuuri refused to let that fire die.

* * *

Determination had fueled his courage, but as Yuuri reached their bedroom, his steps faltered and his courage wavered. What if Yuuri was letting his own selfishness and fears cloud his judgment? What if Yuuri made things worse by pushing his husband into dealing with something he wasn't ready to deal with? What if Wolfram simply needed more time?"

What if, what if, what if. So many variables. So many outcomes.

"I love him," he whispered to himself. That he was sure of, and he drew strength and courage from that. He was doing this out of love.

Straightening his shoulders, he entered the bedroom, firmly closing the door behind him. Predictably, Wolfram was in bed, staring at the wall. He looked horrible. His hair was a mess, his skin a pasty white. His body was no longer slender; instead, he was unhealthily skinny, having eaten very little since his miscarriage. He seemed lifeless, ready and willing to give into death if death came for him. Yuuri feared that one day, he would walk into his room and find his husband on the ground with slit wrists, or hanging from a noose of some kind, or splattered on the concrete floor outside after jumping out a window. He didn't want to believe that Wolfram would kill himself, but with how he seemed to allow his body to disintegrate into nothing but skin and bones, wasn't that what Wolfram was doing? Yuuri was just afraid that Wolfram would get tired of waiting for death to get him and decide to speed up the process and go to it instead.

Yuuri approached the bed and sat down. Only then did Wolfram turn to look at him. "I told you to leave me alone."

Even the words were lifeless, hollow. "I can't."

Wolfram stared at him. "Yuuri, go away."

It was a precarious situation, and Yuuri bravely shook his head. "I love you. You know that." He looked Wolfram over. "I will not let you do this to yourself any longer."

"I don't want to talk."

"We need to."

Wolfram's hands slowly clenched. "No, we don't. There is nothing to talk about."

"Of course there is," Yuuri said. He wanted to reach out, to touch, but he knew Wolfram would just reject it. "There is a lot we have to talk about."

His husband bowed his head. Hiding. "Why don't you just leave me alone?"

"I've been doing that for the past several days. I don't want you to kill yourself."

Wolfram's head snapped up. _There!_ Yuuri could see a spark in his green eyes. A spark of anger? Disbelief? His words answered Yuuri's silent question. "What makes you think I am going to kill myself?" The words held a combination of anger _and_ disbelief.

Yuuri was glad to see that spark. It was a start. "What do you call starving yourself, making no effort to make sure your body has food?"

"Damn you," Wolfram hissed. The spark grew. "That doesn't mean I'm killing myself. Just because I'm not eating three meals a day—"

"A _day_? Try a week! How many meals have you eaten in the past week? I can count on one hand how many meals you've eaten."

"Get out." Wolfram climbed out of bed and glared at Yuuri. "_Get out._"

The king didn't budge. "No. You're starving yourself to death and you may not care right now but I do! I am not going to allow you to sit here and wither away right before my eyes." He took in the way Wolfram shook in outrage, and while the emotion was more than Wolfram has shown in days, Wolfram was getting angry about the wrong thing. "We just lost our baby, Wolfram."

The blond flinched and turned away. "Shut up."

Yuuri stood up. "We have to face it."

"It doesn't matter anymore. Stop talking," Wolfram tried to order, but his words were shaky. His whole body began to shake. The walls were cracking. Wolfram backed up and Yuuri could see the way Wolfram was trying to fix the cracks that Yuuri had chipped into the invisible walls surrounding him. Yuuri was determined to break them down, so he got up and followed Wolfram. The blond must have realized what Yuuri was doing because he backed up further, but Yuuri simply stalked him, like a panther.

"Stop it, go away," Wolfram growled.

"We're never going to meet that child."

"Shut up."

"It's gone. Forever."

"What part of shut up do you not understand?"

"Why did it die? Did we not deserve to be parents? Is that it?" Gisela had said that many miscarriages simply happened with no explanation, but Yuuri couldn't help but wonder if the miscarriage was nature's way of telling them that parenthood wasn't meant for them.

From the way Wolfram reacted to the question, he had had the same thoughts, because his eyes suddenly began to fill with tears. Tears of rage? Tears of sorrow? "Why are you doing this?" Wolfram finally backed up into a wall and he looked at Yuuri as though he were a monster.

"I feel numb inside, is that how you feel?" Wolfram whimpered, the sound heartbreaking. Yuuri's swallowed, his throat suddenly thick, tight, burning with emotion. Seeing Wolfram like that, Yuuri _felt _like a monster. "Why did the baby die?" Yuuri asked again. He stopped just a few feet away from his husband. "It shouldn't have happened, but it did. It happened to _us._"

Wolfram closed his eyes. "You bastard," he whispered. "Why can't you just _shut up_?"

"I wanted the baby, Wolfram. I wanted it so much, you can't even imagine how I feel."

And that was apparently the last straw because Wolfram suddenly froze and looked at him incredulously. Then he launched himself at Yuuri, pushing him with all his strength. It wasn't strong enough to knock him too far back, but it was enough to make him stumble. Wolfram was furious, his tears now were falling, his eyes filled with outrage, despair, pain. So much pain.

"Can't imagine?" Wolfram pushed him again. "Can't _imagine_? I was _pregnant_, Yuuri. It was _inside_ me." Another push. "I knew for weeks that I was pregnant! _Weeks_. You only knew about it for a fraction of that time!"

"And that means that I don't give a damn?" Yuuri placed his hand over his heart. He kept his voice soft. "That was my baby too, Wolfram. I loved it the moment I realized that you were carrying it."

"Not as much as me!" Wolfram yelled. "You can never love the baby as much as I had. I felt it grow inside me, I felt like I knew the baby, that it was a part of me, and now there's nothing in there. There's _nothing_. A part of me just died and I'm never going to get that part back." Wolfram's breathing grew harsh, tears falling faster than Wolfram could wipe them away. "I'm never going to hold my baby. _Never!_" Wolfram shrieked and he hugged his shaking body, falling apart, unable to stop. "How can you stand there and say I can't imagine how you feel when you can never know just how much this hurts _me_?"

Yuuri took a step forward, wanting to hold him, but Wolfram just lashed out, slapping his outstretched hand. "You'll never get it Yuuri," he said, voice raw with emotion. "You'll never get how it felt to just lay on a bed and feel that pain as your baby died inside of you. I had to lie in bed for days as it happened . . ." He cried in earnest now, but he continued to talk, continued to let everything out. "It's my fault, it's all my fault."

"What?" Yuuri shook his head furiously. By this time, his own eyes and cheeks were no longer dry. The loss was painful, and there were no answers or explanations as to why it happened, but one thing Yuuri did know was that Wolfram was not the blame for any of it. "No, this is _not_ your fault."

"Yes it is," Wolfram choked out. His words were getting harder to say, Yuuri could tell. "It's all my fault! I was supposed to make sure the baby grew, that I gave birth to it and I didn't. I _didn't_. This is all my _fault_!"

Wolfram fell to his knees, fists on the ground, hitting the floor. "It _hurts_," he cried. "I want it to stop hurting and it won't stop _hurting_ and I keep asking why this happened! Why? Why? _Why_?"

The last word was screamed out so loud, filled with the raw agony that Wolfram was feeling, the sheer heartache at the loss, and Yuuri knew then and there that his own pain was nothing when compared Wolfram's pain.

Yuuri went to him, falling to his knees, gathering the blond to his chest. As expected, Wolfram jerked away, rejecting his touch, trying to escape him, escape the anguish, the heartache, the world, but Yuuri didn't let go—not this time—and eventually Wolfram collapsed against him, sobbing, screaming, hurting.

"I wanted the baby so bad," Wolfram cried into his chest. "I wanted it!"

"I know," Yuuri whispered. He closed his eyes and placed his cheek on top of Wolfram's soft hair, soothing him with his hands, his murmurs. "I know," he repeated again.

Wolfram continued to cry for a long time afterwards.

* * *

Night had fallen. The room was dark, only a sliver of the moonlight penetrating through the window. The crickets were chirping and on occasion, the howl of a wolf could be heard.

Yuuri sat against the headboard on the bed, legs outstretched. Wolfram lay on the bed curled on his side, but his head rested in Yuuri's lap, allowing him to run his fingers through the blond strands. They hadn't spoken just yet but Yuuri was content to wait. They had a break through earlier, with Wolfram finally releasing all his pent-up anger and grief. Yuuri wasn't going to push for more.

"You were right."

Yuuri's head had been pressed back against the headboard, eyes closed, but now he opened them and looked at his husband. "What?" he asked in response to the blond's words.

Wolfram kept his gaze on Yuuri's stomach, not looking at his face. "About killing myself."

Yuuri's heart skipped a beat. He swallowed. "So you _were_ trying to kill yourself?"

"No, never." Wolfram's voice was thick and rough, evidence of his long crying session. "But to tell you the truth, after losing the baby, I wanted to die. Nothing seemed to matter. Not my brothers, not my body, my health." He paused. "Not even you. I just wanted the pain to go away."

Yuuri continued to run his hands through Wolfram's hair. "I didn't want to push you," Yuuri whispered. "I wanted to give you time to process or grieve or whatever, but you weren't doing anything. I didn't want to lose you. You're the love of my life, Wolfram. How can I possibly stand on the sidelines and do nothing?"

Wolfram didn't answer that. He was quiet for a few moments before he said, "I never thought of having kids."

"No?" Yuuri questioned softly.

Wolfram shook his head, the head rubbing against Yuuri's lap. "I had goals set for my life when I was really young. I was going to be the best soldier in Shin Makoku, follow in the footsteps of Conrart, Big Brother, even Gunter. Marriage was not a part of those plans."

"Then I came," Yuuri murmured.

"Then you came," Wolfram agreed softly. "But even when I married you, children had never entered my mind."

Yuuri chewed over those words. "You're good with children, though."

Whenever Yuuri and Wolfram visited the orphanages in the capital to provide food and presents for the young children, Wolfram always entertained the kids with made-up stories or read to them from the books Wolfram personally brought himself. If the kids wanted to play, Wolfram happily obliged them, even if it meant rolling around on the ground. The blond helped bottle-feed and change the diapers of the babies, feeling far more comfortable around babies than Yuuri was.

"Yes, with other people's children, but I never thought of having my own. I was content with my life. I had everything I wanted." Wolfram paused. "Don't stop."

"Don't stop what?" Yuuri asked, confused.

"My hair."

Realizing that he had stopped caressing Wolfram's hair, Yuuri continued the action. Wolfram sighed and snuggled a little closer, making Yuuri smile. Wolfram looked like a child, his body language clearly expressing his vulnerability, but still feeling safe because Yuuri was there. Yuuri had missed him terribly, had missed holding him, talking to him, touching him. Yuuri didn't plan to let Wolfram go anytime soon.

"Do you really think this wasn't my fault?" Wolfram whispered so quietly, Yuuri barely heard him.

Still, he heard the fear behind the words. "I don't think, I know." Yuuri wished Wolfram would look at him so his husband could see the truth in Yuuri's eyes. "This wasn't your fault. You did everything you were supposed to do."

"Big Brother told me I should rest more—"

"He was being paranoid, just like I would have been if I had been here. But from what Gisela told me, you ate right, when you were tired you rested, you didn't overexert yourself. This was not your fault."

The silence spoke volumes of how little Wolfram believed his words, and as much as Yuuri wished Wolfram would believe him, all he could do was hope that one day Wolfram would look himself in the mirror and see that he was never the blame for the miscarriage.

Silence reigned for several minutes before Yuuri asked, "Wolfram, if you didn't want me to know about the baby, why did you sneak that book into my baggage? You knew that the chapter on male pregnancy would catch my attention."

Wolfram sighed. "You weren't supposed to figure it out on your own. That book was just supposed to give you the idea of male pregnancy, give you time to adjust to it." Wolfram finally shifted his head, looking up at Yuuri. His eyes glowed in the darkness, filled with emotions of several kinds. They weren't as blank as they had been hours earlier. "How did you figure it out anyways?"

"The morning before I left, when I was kissing down your body, I felt something." With his free hand, Yuuri slowly pressed it against Wolfram's stomach. There was nothing there, but his fingers tingled remembering the moment of the past when something _had_ been there.

"You sensed the baby?" At Yuuri's nod, Wolfram said, "I wondered if you did. But I still didn't think you'd connect the dots." Wolfram stopped talking and then began to move. He pushed himself up and sat in Yuuri's lap sideways. Yuuri wrapped his arm around him to give him support. "When I read in your letter that you knew my secret, Big Brother tried to assure me that you didn't know about my pregnancy, but I remember thinking that if you knew, I was going to throttle you for figuring it out."

"Throttle me? Why?"

"Because I had it all figured out how I was going to tell you about the baby."

"Tell me," Yuuri requested softly.

Wolfram shook his head and looked away. "It's stupid."

Yuuri reached out, cupped his chin, and angled Wolfram's head in his direction. "Tell me."

Wolfram's eyes roved over Yuuri's face for a moment before he ducked his head. He muttered, "Private lunch. Just you and me, no one else, out on the terrace. Then we'd walk in the gardens. I would casually bring up the book, ask you what you thought about it. I knew the male pregnancy concept would be the first thing you'd bring up. We would talk about it. Then . . ." Wolfram reached out and grabbed Yuuri's hand, bringing it to his stomach. "I would do this," he whispered, his breath hitching. "I would do this and tell you that I'm pregnant." Quickly, Wolfram buried his face in Yuuri's neck.

There was no sound but Yuuri could feel the wetness of tears against his neck. Yuuri said nothing and waited.

When Wolfram stopped crying, he sniffed and admitted against his neck, "I had two different guesses of how you would react. One would be that you would jump for joy, hug me, swing me around, demand that we tell others, and spend the rest of the day fussing over my belly." Wolfram pulled away from Yuuri's neck and used his arm to wipe his eyes. "My other guess was that you would look at me like I was this brand new creature you had just discovered existed in this world and then faint."

Yuuri made a noise that was almost a chuckle. "Which one did you think would happen?"  
"The second one." Wolfram's lips curved slightly and Yuuri couldn't have been happier to see that smile. It was small, barely noticeable, but there. It was the first smile Yuuri has seen in a while and at this point, he would take whatever he was handed.

Yuuri smiled back. "You wouldn't have been wrong." He ran a finger down one satiny cheek. "When I realized what you were keeping from me, I was not at my calmest, I assure you."

Wolfram placed his head on Yuuri's shoulder. "You don't need to assure me, I can just imagine it."

Yuuri cuddled him closer. "I've missed holding you," he whispered.

"Yuuri? Do you think I would have made a good father?"

To say he was surprised by that question would have been an understatement. "Of course. Didn't you hear me when I said you are good with children?"

"And didn't you hear me when I said that I'm good with other people's children?" Wolfram's words were filled with insecurities. "With other people's children, or even with the children in the orphanages, I don't have to deal with them every single hour of every single day. I can leave when they cry, I don't have to punish them when they are bad, and I don't have them depending on me for love or guidance or support. It would have been different with my own child."

"And what makes you think that you wouldn't have been a good father?"

"I don't know. I mean, I was mostly happy and really wanted the baby, but I was scared too. What if I messed up?"

It relieved Yuuri on some level to learn that Wolfram had had the same fears that Yuuri had. "Even if you did, it wouldn't have made you a bad father. I think a lot of parents mess up on occasion, but so long as the child is well cared for and well loved, and that you have your child's best interests at heart, then you are a good parent." Ironic how Yuuri realized the truth in those words _after_ they lost the baby. His parents weren't perfect, but they loved him, had taken care of him, and Yuuri would have done the same for his own child. At the end of the day, there really had been nothing to fear.

He slightly shifted so he could look at Wolfram's face. "You would have loved that baby with all your heart. You would have held him, kissed him, sung lullabies. You would have watched him grow and teach him things that I couldn't. You would have disciplined him for being bad because you know I would have allowed him to get away with murder." When Wolfram allowed his lips curl upward in another tiny smile, Yuuri's heart cheered. Wolfram's smiles always brightened even the darkest of rooms.

"You _would_ have let our child get away with anything," Wolfram said with certainty.

"I don't think I'm wired to discipline anybody. I might have spoiled our baby rotten." Yuuri kissed his forehead. "The same way I spoil you."

"But you _like _spoiling me," Wolfram pointed out.

"Yes, I do," Yuuri agreed.

Wolfram sighed. "You would have made a wonderful father. I'm sorry I couldn't give you a baby."

"Wolfram . . ." The guilt, the shame, Yuuri just wanted to take all that away from his husband. "You make it sound like we'll never have the chance to be parents again."

"I will most likely not get pregnant again, and if I do, who's to say that I won't miscarry again?"

"And who says that the only way for us to be parents is for you to give birth?" He cupped both of Wolfram's cheeks, making sure Wolfram was looking at him. "We can always adopt."

Wolfram looked surprised by that. "Adopt?"

"Yes. We frequently visit the orphanages. You've seen all the orphans who are just waiting for someone to take them home, to welcome them into a permanent, loving family. They don't need to be our biological children for them to be ours."

"Adopt," Wolfram repeated. He seemed to be contemplating the idea. "I didn't think of that."

Yuuri tapped his nose. "We can go there and find a cute little baby to bring home. Or perhaps we can find a bouncy, giggly toddler. Then there are the older children who would be more than happy to be in our bed while we read them a children's book. Any age, any race, any number. I'll love them just as much as I love you."

Wolfram closed his eyes and pressed his lips together tightly. Yuuri remained silent as Wolfram had an inner struggle not to cry again. He took a shuddering breath and said in a soft voice, "I want that." He opened his eyes, face open and honest. "I want to raise a child with you." He sniffed. "But not yet. I'm still too emotionally distraught to deal with a kid right now."

Yuuri nodded. "I know. Not yet. When we're both ready emotionally and mentally and when we feel like we are ready to be parents one hundred percent, then we'll go about finding a son or daughter to bring home, okay?

Wolfram cupped Yuuri's cheek, ran his thumb across the king's cheekbone. "I love you so much. How did I get so lucky to have someone like you in my life?"

Yuuri covered the blond's hand with his own. "I think I'm the lucky one."

* * *

Slowly but surely, Wolfram began to heal. His appetite returned and everyone's worries eased a little more each time Wolfram ate a full meal. Initially, he had taken his meals in his room, not ready to face the rest of the world, but Yuuri eventually coaxed him out to join the others for meals.

Everyone had been wary, unsure of what to do or say, treating him as though he were glass. It was difficult for anyone to treat him any other way when Wolfram held an aura of devastation around him, as though he could shatter at any moment. They soon realized, though, that while Wolfram was grieving, he wasn't broken. It became particularly apparent one day when Wolfram had bypassed a window and saw his men training. Gerard, the same soldier Wolfram had scolded the day he miscarried, was doing the same exact thing Wolfram had told him not to do, and everyone was more than a little relieved to see the blond march right down there and begin to whip Gerard and the others back into shape, accusing them of slacking off. Yuuri hadn't been able to stop smiling as he watched from his office window at the way Wolfram took charge, and that had been Wolfram's turning point. His stubborn, fiery personality had been reignited.

Wolfram and Gwendal had talked about the day he lost the baby, and it brought them closer than ever before. Yet it was clear that even though Wolfram was dealing with the loss and was slowly accepting it, he was far from being done grieving. Gwendal had finally showed Wolfram the stuffed animals he had made for the baby and he promptly began to cry. Gwendal had held him throughout the ordeal.

It wouldn't be the first time that Wolfram would suddenly succumb to tears without warning. There were times when Wolfram would be training his men, or eating with his family, or even just walking down the hall, and he would think of how he didn't have his baby. That would cause him to break down and Wolfram, usually so cautious about appearing weak in front of others, didn't care who saw him cry. Neither did he resist or withdrew from those who wanted to comfort him as he let out his sorrow, even if that comfort came from a maid.

To help him heal, Wolfram had a shelf built into the wall of their bedroom. He had taken all the stuffed animals Gwendal had knitted and lined them up on it. Wolfram hadn't attempted to guess what they were, knowing that he would have gotten them wrong, but it didn't matter. They were a small reminder of the little baby that he had lost, but who will always be loved. _That_ was all that mattered.

* * *

It was exactly four months later when Wolfram was roused from a deep, peaceful sleep by something nipping at the tips of his fingers of the hand very close to his face. He scrunched his eyes shut, not wanting to wake up yet, but the nipping kept going, making his fingers twitch. He groaned and slowly opened his eyes, wondering what had decided to disturb his sleep.

The first thing he saw was a black, small muzzle before a tiny, rough tongue licked his nose. Wolfram jerked back in surprise and blinked several times before he realized that perched on the bed right next to him was a puppy. It was fawn-colored, with a black snout, curled tail, and drooping ears. It barked, indicating that this puppy was definitely not from this world. Dogs of this world made different sounds.

"Do you like him?"

Wolfram lifted his eyes to see his husband kneeling by the bed, arms crossed on top of the covers and chin resting on them. Black eyes watched him mischievously. "What's going on?" he asked as he sat up, the puppy wasting no time before jumping right onto Wolfram's lap and standing up on its hind legs, little paws pressed against his chest as it tried its hardest to lick at Wolfram's face. "Where did it come from?"

"Him. It's a male. And Shori brought him." Yuuri stood up and climbed on the bed, lying down on his side and putting his head on his palm. "My family arrived a few minutes ago."

"They're already here? I thought they were going to arrive later."

"So did I but apparently they couldn't wait any longer. They really wanted to see you, wanted to see how you were doing."

Wolfram gathered the puppy in his arms and the tiny body wriggled with his paws up in the air and the belly just waiting to be scratched. Wolfram obliged the little critter. "So the puppy is a gift or something?"

"Yes, for you." Yuuri reached out and joined Wolfram's hand to scratch the belly. "I asked Shori to bring a puppy for you the last time he and my parents came to visit."

"Why?" Wolfram couldn't help but cuddle the puppy to his chest. He twisted and managed to get a foothold against Wolfram's chest before licking frantically at Wolfram's face. He tried to avoid the tongue but the puppy was determined. The tail wagged just as fast as the licks.

"Because he is going to prepare us for when we really have children." Yuuri grinned. "A puppy needs love and attention, guidance and discipline."

Wolfram gave him a droll look. "A puppy and a child are two very different things."

"Not necessarily. Besides, a dog is a nice addition to our family."

"Hmm." Wolfram eyed the dog. "What kind of breed is it?"

"A puggle."

"A what?"

"Puggle. A cross-breed between a pug and a beagle." Wolfram wasn't sure what those breeds were, something Yuuri obviously noticed because he rolled his eyes. "Why did you ask when you don't even know most of the earth breeds?"

"I know some of them!" Wolfram defended himself. "I just don't know those two."

Yuuri laughed as he got up on his knees. "I'll make sure to have a book of earth dog breeds brought to you one day so you can know them all." He deftly took a hold of the puppy, planting him on the bed. "So? Do you like my surprise?"

Wolfram glanced down at the puppy before taking in the loving look Yuuri bestowed upon him. He cupped Yuuri's cheeks. "You are without a doubt the best husband there ever was."

"I'll take that as a yes." Yuuri leaned forward and kissed him deeply. Wolfram wrapped his arms around Yuuri's neck to bring him closer, reclining back against the pillows to have the king's weight fully on top of him.

Yuuri made a strangled noise and pulled away. Wolfram blinked. "What—?"

"Your puppy is on my back."

Wolfram blinked again, peeking over Yuuri's shoulder to find the little dog prancing on the broad back. He couldn't help it. He laughed.

Yuuri smiled softly as Wolfram's laughter rang throughout the room. His laughs have been few and far in between these past few months, and although Wolfram seemed a lot better, there was still just a shadow of sadness behind the hidden depths of his eyes. Every laugh from Wolfram was a cherished sound.

Yuuri carefully swayed his body just enough to encourage the puppy to get off his back. It jumped off and wiggled in between their bodies, making it clear that he was not to be ignored by either of his two new owners.

"Well, what are we to name this little beast?" Yuuri asked as he got off Wolfram.

"I'm not sure. Any ideas?" Wolfram remained on his back, the puppy nuzzling his neck.

"Pochi," Yuuri proclaimed without preamble. He didn't even need to think about it.

Wolfram gaped at him. "Why do you always want to name any animal you see Pochi?"

"Because that's a popular name for pets in Japan." Well, not for all pets. It was a popular name for dogs, but it was a cute name. Yuuri certainly didn't see any problems with it.

"Well, this isn't Japan, and Pochi most certainly isn't fit for a royal dog." Wolfram sniffed in a snobby way and looked down at his puppy. "He shall be named Wilmot."

"Huh?" _Wilmot?_ That was the strangest name Yuuri has ever heard of. "Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously. He's my puppy, I can name him whatever I want."

"Yeah, but . . ." Yuuri gave him a dubious look. "Wilmot?"

Wolfram merely stuck out his tongue. Yuuri growled softly and leaned forward, intending to show Wolfram what he could do with that tongue, but Wilmot promptly got in the way and licked Yuuri's slightly opened mouth. He jerked back at the feel of the tiny tongue and sputtered. Wolfram laughed again.

"Good boy," Wolfram crooned. The dog gave a happy bark at the praise.

Yuuri glared, but his glare went completely ignored as Wolfram began to play with Wilmot, looking just like a little kid. Yuuri wiped at his mouth and sighed, smiling wryly at the scene. He didn't appreciate having a dog's tongue in his mouth and he was still very unsure of having a dog named Wilmot, but he figured that if Wilmot could make Wolfram's eyes sparkle just as brightly as they were doing now, then Yuuri could live with it.

A knock on the door went unnoticed by the blond so Yuuri quietly got off the bed and padded across the room to open it.

Shori stood on the other side, along with his parents, Conrart, Gwendal, and Gunter.

"Did he like the puppy?" Shori asked, looking a little anxious.

Out of Yuuri's entire family, the one who had been most concerned about Wolfram had been Shori. His older brother hadn't approved of Wolfram at first, concerned that Yuuri was being forced into a marriage he hadn't been ready for or had wanted in the first place. Over time, though, Shori had begun to love Wolfram like another brother. When Yuuri had finally decided to reveal to his family about the loss of the baby, Shori had been ready to drop everything to come see Wolfram and do what he could for him.

When Yuuri had taken Shori aside during their last visit to ask him about finding a puppy to give to Wolfram, Shori had been more than happy to do as asked and promised to look for the perfect canine companion for the blond.

Before Yuuri could answer Shori's question, Wolfram laughed again, loud enough for those outside in the hall to hear, followed by a few more barks.

"I guess that answers my question," Shori said with a chuckle, looking relieved.

Yuuri opened the door a little so they could see Wolfram at play with Wilmot.

"Looks like you and Wolfram are going to be just fine, Your Majesty," Conrart commented, looking at the direction of the bed with a small grin.

"I believe so." Yuuri glanced at the shelf where the little stuffed animals were placed. A pang of sadness hit his heart at the reminder of what they had lost but when he looked at Wolfram and their brand new puppy, laughing with so much joy, the sadness in his heart diminished.

Oh yeah, they were going to be just fine.

_The End_

A/N: This was difficult to write. Getting into Wolfram's head after the miscarriage wasn't easy. I did research on miscarriages, read various personal accounts on how women felt after a miscarriage, but even then it was hard to show that raw emotion. Not sure how I did but if it made your heart twinge just a tiny bit, then I think I did my job right. And yes, I am aware of writing another story with a weepy Wolfram, but in this case, I'm pretty sure all of you can forgive me, considering the reasons behind Wolfram's tears.

I hope this was worth the lack of any published stories in the last few months. Reviews and constructive criticism is highly appreciated!


End file.
